Clinical hematologists are frequently faced with the intriguing problem of agnogenic myelo dysplastic syndromes; these syndromes are peculiar in their failing or poor response to therapy and in that they frequently terminate in acute leukemia. An international symposium held in Innsbruck in 1978 was dedicated to clinical and pathophysiologic aspects of the preleukemic syndromes. This monograph consists of articles that correspond to the papers presented at the symposium and of the edited discussions. It was the aim of the symposium and of this monograph to outline comprehensively the pathophysiologic background of the preleukemic syndromes and to summarize the present information about their clinical management. The first part of the monograph covers that pathology of these disorders: Disturbed maturation and proliferation of the hemopoietic cells are the causes of cyto penias, of structural and ultrastructural anomalies, and of enzymatic and functional defects. Further articles are concerned with the evaluation of these features and of chromosome anomalies as possible tools for the diagnostic and prognostic classification of myelodysplasias. Pathogenetic data and immunologic considerations form the rationale for therapeutic ap proaches. F. Schmalzl K.-P. Hellriegel v Contents K.-P. Hellriegel and F. Schmalzl Preleukemia: Definition and Classification ... H. Heirnpel Conventional Morphological Examination of Blood and Bone Marrow Cells in the Diagnosis of Preleukemic Syndromes ... 4 C. Peschle Pure Red Cell Aplasia Type III: Progression to Acute Myeloid Leukemia and Absence of the IgG Inhibitor to Erythropoiesis ... 12 Discussion ... '. ... 14 ... I. Fohlmeister, H.E. Schaefer, K.-P. Hellriegel, and R.

about the book Assisting clinicians in the differential diagnosis of the wide range of disorders responsible for fever of unknown origin (FUO), this source stands as the only recent and comprehensive differential diagnosis of these conditions. This guide providing a clear overview of diagnostic approaches and offers expert recommendations t

Minimal neoplasia may be defined as a small cancer that has progressed beyond its site of primary origin into the surrounding tissue, but that has not yet reached the stage of deeper invasion or metastasization. The basic principles of this minimal cancer are presented in chapters on molecular, biological and experimental aspects, and, in particular, on the clinical manifestations in various organs: preleukemia, incipient lymphoma, and minimal carcinomas of the uterine cervix, breast, thyroid, larynx, lung, prostate, stomach and colon. A separate chapter is devoted to cryptic gliomas. The latest morphological methods including cytology, early clinical diagnostics and, in particular, radiodiagnostics, are considered. The reader can expect up-to-date information about prompt diagnosis of the very early manifestations of cancer, together with inferences on therapy, which, especially in tumors of the uterine cervix, breast and thyroid, differs considerably from the treatment of advanced neoplasia.

Much of the attention presently paid to leukemia is the result of recent progress in understanding and treatment. Chemotherapy of leukemia started in the late 1940s, and combination therapy evolved in the late 1950s. It was at that time that the clonality of leukemia was realized, after the discovery of chromosomal and then biochemical and immunological markers. And now we have the new data on retroviral and cellular oncogenes and the reports on human T -cell lymphoma/ leukemia viruses. Many more steps forward could be enumerated in a field which is so rapidly making the hematological textbooks outdated. In this volume, thirteen in-depth reviews from large multicenter trials in the Federal Republic of Germany summarize the current state of diagnosis and management of leukemias. Childhood ALL and AML adult ALL and AUL were investigated. While cure appears to be achievable for more and more patients with acute leukemia, we still pursue the aim of optimal palliation in chronic leukemias. The management of patients with leukemia therefore varies to a large extent in aggressiveness of therapy. In some situations, rescue from an otherwise lethal disease is provided by bone marrow transplanta tion, which is discussed in two chapters.